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Holes in block foundation wall

We had a problem at the house and I had to unfinish the basement. It's now just block wall with some kind of paint on it.

The electrical aspect is a mess. The service panel needs to be secured and nomex running to switches and outlets is hideous. Everything is just hanging down the wall.

So, my question is, can I drill holes in the block or morter for concrete anchors to allow the securing of the panel, the mounting of raceways and new outlet boxes, etc.

I found some nice blue concrete bolts (they call them anchors) but it's basically just an 1/8th inch diameter bolt that tightens into a drilled hole. No 1/4 inch hole for an anchor insert needed.

Is it ok to put these holes in my block basement walls?

TIA

Reply to
Mark Sherman
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I would attach an over sized piece of plywood and attach your panel to that. The blue things are called tap-cons. Attach them to the mortar joints. Make sure you do not make the hole over sized. It needs to be precise for those things to hold.

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Reply to
No

I did build a wooden mounting panel to mount to the wall for the service panel to mount to. I can see that the hole needs to be precise. The pack of tap-cons I purchased came with a long drill bit included. It would also appear that over tightning these things would be a big no-no.

I wonder how strong they are. I was going to use 6 (3 each side) for the heavy service panel.

I guess it's ok to drill the holes?

Reply to
Mark Sherman

I suggested the mortar joints because the block is hollow and can be crumbly and tapcons may not hold. Don't ask me how I know.

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Reply to
No

I used about 600 of those tapcons to secure my walls and subfloor to the concrete.

About 1 in 10 snapped below the torque required to drive them in.

This probably had more to do with the hardness of the concrete than the bolt.

If your block is softer than mortar, you have bigger issues.

Why not run a few 2X4's floor to ceiling to temporarily secure your electrics to.

Reply to
Hogwild

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